In my former career as a crime reporter, I was introduced by a colleague to the beauty of food blogs.

Among the one I checked whenever I had a small window of downtime was Chocolate and Zucchini, which chronicles the food adventures of Clotilde Dusoulier as she cooks in her Paris kitchen.

It was one of the first food blogs to gain popularity and she has kept it up for years, ultimately producing several cookbooks, including her latest, The French Market Cookbook (Clarkson Potter).

A slight departure from her other books, this one contains only vegetarian recipes — an increasingly common theme among cookbooks I’ve seen lately.

The appeal of Chocolate and Zucchini, besides Dusoulier’s easygoing style of writing and generally approachable dishes, has been its peek into life and cooking in France, where there has long been an emphasis on eating in season.

As such, the book is divided by season with plenty of luscious photographs of dishes and ingredients.

Each chapter includes a list of what fruit and vegetables will be coming into season — though perhaps not entirely accurate for us here in Alberta. I appreciated the attention to cooking in season, which is something we’ve certainly moved away from in North America (and are now making concerted and public efforts to return to more recently).

Since seasonal is the focus, the recipes reflect a desire to let the fruits and vegetables shine. Simplicity is the foundation of most in the book.

So, too, is a focus on more wholesome ingredients, with Dusoulier calling for unrefined sugars, almond milk, organic eggs and almond butter.

The clafoutis recipe I tried required almond flour and unrefined cane sugar, which did require a trip to the natural food store.

Clafoutis is a dessert I’ve long associated with France, so it seemed a natural pick when taking on this book. Not to mention that the idea of adding the warm flavour of cardamom and peaches — perfect for summer — appealed. Clafoutis is sort of like a baked pudding or flan, speckled with fruit.

Dusoulier has bolstered hers with the addition of almond flour to play against the peaches. Smartly, she created the recipe as a way to use up those that don’t quite meet the juicy standard required for them to be eaten au naturel.

The result is a not-overly-sweet dessert full of sliced peaches with a hint of almond and cardamom.

And, yes, as per her suggestion, it does make a very fine breakfast — if you actually have leftovers.

But, I have to admit, I didn’t find myself getting overly excited about a large number of recipes in the book. Maybe it’s vegetarian cookbook fatigue. Maybe it’s because the recipes in the three other seasons appealed more. (I definitely was intrigued by the Radish-top Pasta from spring and winter’s Curried Leek Tarte Tatin, but it felt like cooking out of season went against the book’s goal.)

Nevertheless, for those looking for a French take on getting more meatless dishes with healthier ingredients onto the table, this could be a good fit.

Peach, Almond and Cardamom Clafoutis

4 green cardamom pods or 1/2 tsp (2 mL) ground green cardamom

2/3 cup (160 mL) almond flour

1/2 cup (125 mL) all-purpose flour

1/2 cup (125 mL) unrefined blond cane sugar

1 tbsp (15 mL) cornstarch

3 large eggs

3/4 cup unflavoured, unsweetened almond milk or dairy milk (not skim)

2 1/4 lb (625 g) peaches, yellow, white or a mix

Crème fraîche or all-natural yogurt (optional)

Pop the cardamom pods open with the flat of a chef’s knife and grind the seeds finely with a mortar and pestle.

In a medium bowl, combine the almond flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, cornstarch and ground cardamom. Break the eggs into the bowl and whisk until combined. Pour in the milk in a thin stream, whisking all the while to incorporate.

Preheat the oven to 350F (180C).

Pit the peaches, cut them into slices without peeling and arrange on the bottom of a greased 8-inch/20-cm square glass or ceramic baking dish. (Alternatively, use individual baking dishes.)

Pour the batter evenly over the peaches. Bake until set and golden, 30 to 40 minutes (20 to 30 minutes for individual dishes).

Serve slightly warm, at room temperature or cold, with an optional dollop of crème fraîche or Greek yogurt. The leftovers do well at breakfast.

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Paris food blogger goes seasonal in her latest cookbook, The French Market

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